Warm Ohio winter brings out golfers, hikers

JoANNE VIVIANO
Associated PressPublished: February 1, 2012 5:50PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio's unseasonable weather is bringing golfers and hikers out in greater numbers, attracting more visitors to zoos and allowing the operator of a Lake Erie ferry to offer winter trips for the first time in six years.

While temperatures climbed through the 50s this week, some were even ice skating in short sleeves and trading in their pants for shorts.

Matt Dulli, an assistant golf pro at The Golf Club at Yankee Trace in the Dayton suburb of Centerville, said 115 rounds were played on the course Tuesday amid balmy temperatures that reached 60 degrees.

"Over 100 players in the winter is extremely busy," he said.

"The first thing you hear out of people's mouths is, 'Can you believe we're playing golf in January?'"

The jet stream has been much farther north than usual and has kept cold air from coming south from Canada, a trend that's expected to extend into February, said meteorologist Mike Kurz at the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

From December through January, average temperatures in Columbus were the 10th highest on record. Meanwhile, if the winter were to end now, the season would rank third for the least amount of snow in Cincinnati, which has had just 1.6 inches so far, Kurz said.

"Indications at this time are that the overall trend for a mild winter with not so much snowfall looks to continue," he said.

Ohio is not unlike much of the U.S., where January was the third-least snowy on record -- going back to 1967 -- for the Lower 48, according to the Global Snow Lab at Rutgers University. Less than a fifth of the country outside of Alaska has snow on the ground. And, on Tuesday, all but a handful of states had temperatures in the 50s or higher.

In the heart of the snow belt, Holden Arboretum saw a 32 percent jump in December attendance and a 20 percent jump in January visits, said Director of Guest Relations Dave Desimone. Over the two months, about 4,200 people visited the site in Kirtland, outside Cleveland, that features gardens, woodlands and trails.

While die-hard hikers visit regardless of the weather, he said, this season has seen higher numbers of people likely trying to fight off cabin fever.

"A lot of people have that New Year's resolution to stay more active, and I would have to guess that a walk in the woods would be far superior than a lap around the mall," Desimone said.

Along Lake Erie near Toledo, a ferry service that carries visitors to islands was beginning winter-time routes Wednesday for the first time in six years.

The Miller Boat Line in Catawba plans to make four round trips to Put-In-Bay Island most days, as long as it's not too windy or icy. Such trips require a plane during most winters.

Dulli, at The Golf Club, said most people are "just ecstatic" that they can get out.

"I actually did have a couple people wear shorts. Most of them wore pants and a jacket," he said. "Nothing like you typically see in January, which is a knit cap and a big old coat."